House of Cards Renewed as Showrunner Departs

Netflix has renewed House of Cards for a fifth season to air in 2017, but creator and showrunner Beau Willimon won’t be returning to the series.

According to Variety, the playwright and screenwriter said that it was time for him to “‘move on’ after spending five years in the world of Frank Underwood,” which is expanded on in his statement below:

“I’m grateful to Netflix and MRC, my fellow executive producers, our two incandescent stars Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, our talented writers, as well as the incredible cast and crew with whom I’ve had the privilege to work. After five years and four seasons, it’s time for me to move on to new endeavors, but I’m supremely proud of what we’ve built together, wish the show much continued success, and leave it in the hands of a very capable team.”

No word on who Willimon will be handing the reigns over to, but fans will be pleased to know that Kevin Spacey is locked in for Season 5. After the mixed reception to Season 3, fans may even welcome the showrunner’s departure, a potential sign of the series not getting stale as Frank runs out of political positions to climb (if he hasn’t already). However, Deadline notes that Willimon may not have left the series voluntarily, due to rumors about production issues that he would have been held responsible for.

Prior to working on House of Cards (which established Netflix as a major player in the production of original scripted series), he wrote the play Farragut North which was later adapted into the feature film The Ides of March.